pinteresting: bucket storage!

i pinned this photo on pinterest because i thought the little bucket configuration was really cute- especially for like a back door/porch organizer of summer stuff or outdoor toys like sunscreen, shovels, water guns etc.
(originally from apartment therapy, i believe)

then i saw these little pink buckets in the $1 at target & an idea was born for a smaller, table-top version, for storing all my little girl's tiny hairbrushes & accessories that get lost in her bigger toy boxes. i wondered if they even made pink zip ties & then lucked out found the colorful package of them at dollar tree right away!
they're the perfect shade of pink. & if your buckets have little handles, you don't have to drill holes! makes it an even easier & quicker project. just zip tie them all together & then trim the ends!
it looks super cute in her room, and even ended up being just the right size for diapers or pull-ups (which she is only wearing at night now, praise the Lord!).
you can leave it on its side like this, or turn it with the buckets flat. here's another fun, summery way you could use it:
super cute, super easy, super quick project, all for only $4! love it!

supplies!

$20 at the hardware store gets me excited about life. i love the thrill of fresh supplies... new projects are coming soon!

something lovely this way comes...

you can always tell when a craft show is approaching in this house... my kitchen counters start to look like this:
thankfully, my family is always super patient and gracious with me... and by family, i really mean my amazing husband who must be constantly biting his tongue when there is about a one inch square space of countertop left on which to make a sandwich, etc.

love him.

but i'm proud of myself for trying to really plan ahead this time [like, 2 months ahead of time!] so as to avoid the major stress of trying to build up inventory the week of a show. and after a couple late nights of painting, i have a nice little stack of nearly-finished hairbow holders & more in progress! yay!
& my sweet family can rest assured, knowing that come november 5th when sebts craft & bake is over, the house will get back to what passes for normal around there!

diy in strange places.

i'd love to peek in on the meetings where they decide how to decorate places like anthropologie & starbucks. anthro is well-known for their super-interesting store displays, & i've seen some really interesting coffee-inspired & repurposed elements in our local starbucks. right now they have a really cool painting that looks like it was painted in coffee grounds, & once i saw what looked like a canvas decoupaged with used coffee filters- sounds odd, but they looked like really cool coffee-dyed ruffly circles, almost doily-like.

when i stopped by for a recent iced coffee [my almost-daily summer staple] i saw two new cool things i really liked & thought would be cool even in a home rather than a coffee shop. [please excuse the creepy stalker-like cellphone photos.]

the first was a configuration of what looked like canvases [or wood or cardboard or something!] covered in burlap coffee bags. i love the look of the bags' printing showing up randomly, and i think this could be cool if you stretched the burlap around pieces of cork for a unique corkboard, especially in a home office! i like the extra-large scale of it too- it fills the space so nicely!
[sidenote: does it bother you when people sit in coffee places with their feet up like they own the place? like they're at home chillin' in their bathrobe or something. feels a little unsanitary to me for some reason.]

the second was a chalkboard wall- nothing to new or exciting there, but i thought the way they had sectioned it off with pieces of wood almost like a chair rail was creative. you could even use white moulding for a really nice finished look.
sorry, random dude in starbucks. didn't mean to take a stalker-esque photo of you! just goes to show, you never know where you'll find crafty decorating inspiration!